Dan Michael Vitale III (born October 26, 1993) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

fullback. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Northwestern and was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in the sixth round of the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He was also a member of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, and

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Early life and high school career

Vitale was born one of two sons to Lisa and Dan Vitale. His brother Tommy played as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

while at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. Vitale attended high school in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

, the same as former football player

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

, actor

John Belushi John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his ca ...

and astronomer

Edwin Hubble Edwin Powell Hubble (November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953) was an Americans, American astronomer. He played a crucial role in establishing the fields of extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology. Hubble proved that many objects ...

.Danny Vitale College Football Profile
NU Sports.com Retrieved February 3, 2023. While attending Wheaton high school, Vitale earned distinctions including places on the honor roll and

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

. He played high school football as both a wide receiver and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. During the 2011 season, Vitale earned All-Area and All-State awards. He earned a letter in wrestling where he competed at 152 lbs, lettered two years in football and earned letters three years in track.

College career

Vitale played for Northwestern University beginning his freshman season in 2012. He was named to the Academic All-Big Ten three times, during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. While at Northwestern, Vitale majored in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, with minors in Business Institutions and Integrated Marketing Communications.Dan Vitale III Profile on Linkedin.com
Retrieved February 3, 2023.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Vitale was selected by the Buccaneers in the sixth round of the

with the 197th overall pick. He was released by the Buccaneers as part of final roster cuts on September 3, 2016.

Buffalo Bills

Vitale was claimed off waivers by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

the next day, but failed his

physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally consists of a series of questions about the patien ...

, voiding the contract.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (second stint)

On September 10, 2016, he re-joined the Buccaneers as a member of their practice squad.

Cleveland Browns

Vitale was signed off the Buccaneers' practice squad by the Cleveland Browns on October 14, 2016. On September 1, 2018, Vitale suffered a calf injury and was placed on injured reserve. He was released on October 12, 2018.

Green Bay Packers

Vitale was signed to the

practice squad on October 22, 2018. He was promoted to the active roster on December 1, 2018. He appeared in five games in the 2018 season. In the 2019 season, Vitale saw some increased usage in the receiving game with seven receptions for 97 yards. He started in four of the 15 games he appeared in.

New England Patriots

On March 21, 2020, Vitale signed a one-year contract with the

. On July 28, 2020, Vitale announced he was opting out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He was released after the season on May 27, 2021. On June 6, 2021, Vitale announced his retirement from professional football.

NFL career statistics

Post-NFL career

Beginning in November 2021, Vitale founded the health and fitness company VITALETY, LLC. In January 2022, Vitale became Financial Advisor and Financial Planning Specialist for the financial services company

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

References

External links

*
Green Bay Packers bioNorthwestern Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitale, Danny 1993 births Living people American football fullbacks American football tight ends Cleveland Browns players Green Bay Packers players New England Patriots players Northwestern Wildcats football players Sportspeople from Wheaton, Illinois Players of American football from DuPage County, Illinois Tampa Bay Buccaneers players